Attracting foreign direct investment

Comments

Promoting the Canada brand and showcasing our strengths is imperative. Canada has a strong and qualified labor force, an excellent business environment, a strong R&D ecosystem, a low tax rate, and incredible market access. However, Canada does depend heavily on the U.S. and the uncertainties around NAFTA will make investors cautious. Working to finalize NAFTA negotiations in addition to promoting Canada as a great investment destination would help Canada climb out of its FDI slump!

Canada needs to connect with investors worldwide by directly going to these companies and pitching Canada as a brand and a great place to invest. Face to face contact and a chance for investors to talk with someone about Canada's mineral and metal industry would position us well in the global competition. We need to create strong ties these worldwide investors to grow the brand even more and by being available to answer investor’s questions, we can and plug Canada in the conversation.

Infrastructure to support mining, especially in the North, is extremely expensive to develop but also valuable for all of the spin off benefits it can bring to communities. Funding schemes are increasingly public-private partnerships, and public money needs to be on the table first. Any plans to attract FDI should include specific actions to attract FDI for infrastructure development.

I think the industry needs to recognize and accept that First Nation are influenced by the environmental lobby because Industry is not helping to support First Nation control over their ancestral lands. Meanwhile, industry is busy erecting walls between industry and First Nation while lobbying government to "DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE INDIANS, THIS IS CROWN LAND", "WE WANT PERMITS AND WE DONT WANT TO DEAL WITH THE INDIANS'. industry mandate and expenditure should be to invest in a First Nation lobby for care and control over their ancestral lands. Once First Nation assume full care and control over their ancestral lands, industry can then negotiate with the right group to establish a mining industry.

The government needs to do more than just talk. They need to show that Canada can be a place where foreign investors can make money. They need to get pipelines built, make the tax regime more attractive and drop Bill C-69, otherwise the flow from foreign investors will continue to dry up and Canadian funds will continue flooding out of the country.